dying to be thin: why what you eat matters, pt 1: A History

In my other life, I’m a nutritionist. There are reasons for this I’m sure (as there are reasons why I haven’t taken it up as an actual profession just yet), but the main reason is that I am oddly and entirely passionate about Health, especially as it’s related to food (and therefore body image). I do want to clarify a few things first, for my own peace of mind.

Why my weight has everything to do with this passion:
Obviously, I am a thin individual. I have been referred to since the age of 6 as “that skinny girl” (you know Ashley? Long Hair, brown eyes, sits next to you in class? /uhhh...no. /She's really skinny! /Oh! Her! no joke). People have opted out of being friends with me because of what I weigh (and yup, they’ve told me so). And I have been asked if I was anorexic/have an eating disorder/have a disease, on average, twice a month, every month of my life. Tie this in with my natural defiance and desire to prove people wrong/win the argument, and there you have it: a passion for nutrition. I’ve spent my life (literally, especially as an adult) researching nutrition, diets, food in general, and the effect these three things have on the human body. Originally, I did this to try and gain weight (so people would shut up). Once I realized people would not shut up, and that I was happy with they way God made me, I still researched. Because by now, I was neck deep in it: I love(d) to learn about nutrition.


Why my weight has nothing to do with this passion:
About as often as I’ve been pegged as a disease carrier, I’ve been confided in on deep personal levels about eating habits and diets and weight problems and personal struggles with food. This is normal for me as a counsellor personality (and I understand that as sad as it is, people who struggle with being “too big” will often see my weight and question their own, and therefore feel the urge to talk about it). But as often as I’ve heard the struggles, I’ve heard the excuses. As often as I’ve heard the questions, I’ve seen the apathy. This is reason #2 why I’ve researched as much as I have: it seems that in many cases, I’m the only one doing it. It makes me sad that people are so desperate to change their bodies that they end up ruining them instead (no judgements from me: I once ate McDonald’s 3 meals a day for 30 days to try and gain weight…it didn’t work. But still, unhealthy much?). And it makes me even more sad knowing that people go so far as to hate themselves because of a few extra pounds. Ptooey!

So instead of keeping my *wealth of knowledge (*warning: horn toot) to myself, I’ve decided to share it. What you eat actually matters. And what you don’t eat actually matters. No….really.

These posts are likely going to be controversial in some respect, because this is a personal topic for...well…everyone. So please keep in mind that if I spend 38 paragraphs dissecting and dismissing (or quite possibly: making fun of) the diet that you’re on, it’s because I love you, and not at all because I think anything bad about you personally. And honestly, I don’t expect to change everyones minds either. If you think that drinking lemonade (foreshadowing?) for breakfast lunch and dinner is the healthiest thing for you to do, well…I can’t do much about that, can I? If you think it’s best for you, that is your choice. To each their own, as I like to say. But this “each” is taking her “own” and telling you why these methods are madness… MADNESS I TELL YOU!!! I just can't sit by and watch anymore as people eat butter and not bread, juice and not fruit, fast food and not vegetables.

Back in awhile.